U.S. Chain-Store Sales +4%

RAPAPORT... U.S. chain-store sales rose 3.6 percent year on year for the week that ended on June 16, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs. However, the week-to-week change in comparable-store sales was flat.

“With a fair amount of economic uncertainty in the U.S. and globally, consumer sales have been more restrained,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC's vice president of research and chief economist. “The good news, however, is that gasoline prices at the pump have receded significantly in the past 11 weeks, which should help to replenish some discretionary purchasing power in the coming weeks,” Niemira added.

ICSC Research anticipates comparable-store sales will increase 1.5 percent to 2 percent overall in June, with stronger performance when drug store sales are removed from the equation. The weekly chain-store sales snapshot is produced by ICSC and Goldman Sachs to measure U.S. nominal same-store, or comparable-store, sales while excluding restaurant and vehicle demand. The weekly sales index is presented on an adjusted basis to account for normal seasonal and other data anomalies.